


Mandatory Friendship

by Arriva



Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: At least in chapter 1, But not in a romantic way in a hasn't seen another human in a very long time kind of way, Chell is just so over it, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, In this house we love and cherish Doug Rattmann, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Portal Secret Santa, Touch-Starved, Wheatley is somewhere but he is not in this fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:22:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21818107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arriva/pseuds/Arriva
Summary: It's been a long time since Chell's seen another human.
Relationships: Chell & Doug Rattmann
Comments: 18
Kudos: 55





	Mandatory Friendship

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Portalsandart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Portalsandart/gifts).



_"Would you like to hear something fun?"_

Chell gritted her teeth and stepped out of the elevator. No, she would not like to hear something "fun," but like many things that had been occurring recently, she did not get a say in this. 

_"Humans are inherently_ social _creatures,"_ GLaDOS continued, lingering upon the word "social" like it was a disease. _"When kept in long-term isolation, they experience loneliness, fear of others, and significantly lowered self-esteem."_

Chell ignored her. Unless she laid out how to solve this next test, GLaDOS had nothing of value to say, and therefore nothing worth Chell's acknowledgement.

Not that her stoicism stopped GLaDOS from taunting her. As Chell entered the test chamber, her dulcet, condescending voice filled the room. _"Say, when was the last time you were around another human again?"_

Chell felt a twinge of discomfort. Truthfully, she didn't know the last time she was around another human. She couldn't remember. GLaDOS didn't need to know that, but Chell knew. And unlike GLaDOS, Chell couldn't block out her own voice.

Her grip tightened on the portal gun, and she pushed that discomfort to the back of her mind. Right now, Chell only had the brain capacity to focus on doable things. Such as solving this test. And escaping. Only one of those things was immediately doable, so Chell got to work.

The test chamber had a Hard Light Bridge and- Chell winced. Turrets. She sighed at the thought of dealing with them. With all of this. Every new challenge thrown in the test chambers left her a combination of exhausted and pissed. At this point, all she wanted was a shower. With real water. And a sandwich. Just the thought of it made Chell remember how empty her stomach was. It didn't even have to be a nice sandwich. She'd take stale bread. Soggy meat. Even -Chell shuddered just at the thought- _mustard_.

For now, she had no sandwich, just a test and an AI that wanted her dead. That's why she had to escape.

Because she was going to get her sandwich.

Chell popped a portal at the Hard Light Beam. In some ways, the test itself was the easiest thing to deal with. GLaDOS was silent. Nothing in here outright _tried_ to murder her. Which didn't rule out what would happen when she completed a test. Who knew? Maybe the next elevator would take her down into the incinerator. Or GLaDOS would get creative.

Despite the lack of immediate danger, GLaDOS's words from earlier still followed her. As Chell was running toward a portal, her eye caught the window at the corner of the test chamber, and she stumbled to a halt. There was no one in there. There was never anybody in there. Chell stood fixated on that window. Normally, they didn't phase her, but... seeing that blurred out window, she pictured someone standing on the other side, someone with a pulse. 

There really was no one else here.

Chell stared into the window, taking a moment to acknowledge that. They didn't deserve to die. Even the most repugnant, unethical Aperture employees didn't deserve to die.

She took out the turrets with a little more spite than normal. But even the test wasn't enough of a distraction. Chell was the only human left. Why she was the only one to make it this far, she didn't know. Either she was the luckiest or the unluckiest person in the world.

She completed the test shortly after getting rid of the turrets. It was practically done on autopilot. She took a moment at the exit to catch her breath before going through the Emancipation Grill.

And entered... another room?

The room was small and dark. Something- _someone_ stood in the middle of it. The dim light made it so Chell could only see the silhouette of a- no. She did not see a head.

That was impossible.

Then again... was anything at Aperture Science truly impossible?

 _"Remember that 'not seeing a human' thing?"_ GLaDOS said. _"I came up with a solution."_

The lights came on. And Chell nearly groaned.

GLaDOS had cut out one of the doors to the test chambers. The blue figure perpetually in a running position stood in the middle of the room. Still blue. Still mid-sprint.

 _"I named him Greg,"_ GLaDOS said. Chell stared at the cutout, dumbfounded. _"I know it's not a_ real _human, but given we are in short supply of them, he's the next best option. Go on. Engage with him."_

This wasn't happening. This just- Chell blinked. No, this was happening. She was stuck in a room with a mangled up door. What did GLaDOS expect her to do? Talk to this thing? She wasn't doing that. Not because she couldn't. Contrary to what the talkative blue core thought, Chell could talk just fine. No brain damage there.

It was her memory that took the brunt of the brain damage.

She'd been worse when she first woke up from cryo. Waking up in that dingy Relaxation Chamber, with no memory of who she was or how she got there, was one of the most frightening things Chell had ever experienced. Luckily, the feeling of total, terrifying blankness only lasted briefly. As Chell made her way through the ruined test chambers, some things started to come back, mostly the Aperture things. But outside of Aperture who _was_ she? How did she end up here? Why, of all the humans that had come and gone through this facility, was she the only one who'd made it this far?

Was she really the only one?

Chell brushed past Greg- no, the _cutout_ , she was not going to indulge in GLaDOS's sick form of companionship. The Companion Cube was bad enough. But when she tried to go through the other door, it wouldn't open.

She turned back around. The cutout stood expectantly. She tried to keep her face impassive, but the lack of a clear solution was getting to her. Greg was created to make her suffer. So what could GLaDOS do with this to make her suffer the most?

Chell approached the cutout. Slowly, she never knew what kind of surprises GLaDOS had in store. She gazed into its faceless blue head. Tried to feel something other than a creeping headache. Then with a resolute sigh, she reached out to touch the cutout.

The second her fingers brushed against the cutout, it burst into flames.

Chell jumped back with a gasp. _"Oh look. Greg combusted,"_ GLaDOS noted wryly.

She stared at the pile of ashes where Greg used to be. She should have expected it, and she still jumped. 

The door behind Chell finally opened, and she stormed out of the room and into the elevator. _"It's a good thing that wasn't a real human. You'd probably have the same effect on one,"_ GLaDOS said, because that's what Chell really needed to hear right now. 

She nearly chucked the portal gun out of the elevator. But she didn't because that would impede her from escaping, and right now, she _really_ wanted to escape. Chell set the gun down and pressed her fingers to her temples. GLaDOS wanted to make her as miserable as possible. She couldn't forget that. But did she have _friends?_ Before this? Did people with friends end up as test subjects Aperture Science?

As she rode the elevator down, Chell couldn't think of anyone who would miss her if she was gone.

* * *

The next test passed by with relatively no hurtles. GLaDOS made another jab at her being adopted. She got singed by a laser. All in all, not the worst test. Not that Chell ever considered a "best" test because they were all a sliding scale from terrible to outright life-threatening. 

But then in the test chamber after that, Chell heard something strange.

She entered, took in the layout: a pool of acid, some raised levels, and a trio of turrets that weren't an immediate threat so long as she stayed out of their line of sight. She started making her way towards the Weighted Storage Cube in the corner of the test chamber. That's when she heard it.

A cough.

Chell whipped around, portal gun raised. The test chamber was empty. No signs of movement. 

She knew what she heard. Chell took one cautious step toward the other side of the test chamber, listening for any other signs of human life. Was she hearing things? Was this another way GLaDOS found to toy with her?

Then she heard the cough again followed by the _thud_ of labored footsteps. Like -Chell frowned- like someone was limping? And it was getting closer.

She blasted a portal next to her and another one at the wall behind her. An escape. In case whatever came out meant to harm her. She could slip through the portal next to her and be out of sight in an instant. Chell looked over the test chamber, and now saw that one panel was slightly ahead of the other panel, creating an opening. She'd seen a few others in earlier test chambers but never encountered anyone back there.

Nor heard anyone.

The footsteps stopped. Chell held her breath.

Then a ghost emerged from the panels.

Not a ghost, a human. A real, living human. The man wore white, or what was once white. Layers of dirt had turned his lab coat, button-up, and trousers to a muddied gray. A large patch of what looked like dried blood had crusted around his left leg. What Chell couldn't figure out were the specks of color all over him, especially his hands. He had specks of orange and blue and black and- her eyes widened.

It was _paint_.

Chell wanted to ask the man who came out of nowhere why he was covered in paint.

Their eyes met. His were bloodshot, like he hadn't had a good nights sleep in ages. The man opened his mouth, presumably to ask her something.

But it was neither Chell nor the man who spoke first.

"There you are," a turret chirped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Portal Christmas! This was originally going to be a oneshot, but it started to get a little long so it is now a twoshot. Stay tuned for the next chapter!


End file.
